Title

Authors

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

11-2013

Abstract

The Citizens Election Fund, Connecticut's version of a clean elections law, was established in 2005 in the wake of the corruption scandal during the administration of Governor John Rowland. Modeled after the public financing systems of Maine and Arizona, Connecticut's law has been touted as the most comprehensive in the nation. This paper will address whether the introduction of the Citizens' Election Program has increased the level of electoral competition by specifically focusing on state house seats in Connecticut during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles. Contestation for seats in the Connecticut General Assembly is a particularly salient issue due to the fact that many seats typically go unchallenged and as scholars observed a seat in the Connecticut House or Senate had become one of the safest offices anywhere, approaching if not exceeding the security of membership in the US Congress.

DOI

10.5539/par.v2n2p210

Recommended Citation

DeNardis, Lesley. "Electoral Competition in Connecticut's State House Races: The Trial Run of the Citizens' Election Program." Public Administration Research 2.2 (2013): 210-220.